Mario Time isn’t over yet, as the animated film has broken another record, becoming the first film of 2023 to cross the $1 billion mark at the global box office.
In less than a month of release, the global offering for The movie Super Mario Bros has surpassed $1 billion, according to studio estimates on Sunday.
Universal-Nintendo’s video game adaptation dominated theaters in April, breaking records along the wayand became the first film of 2023 to cross the coveted $1 billion mark at the global box office.
It is also only the fifth film of the post-pandemic era to surpass $1 billion worldwide, and the 11th animated film in history to achieve the feat.
For reference, the highest grossing animated films of all time are:
1 The Lion King (remake) (2019) – $1,657,713,459
2 Frozen II (2019) – $1,450,026,933
3 Frozen (2013) -$1,290,000,000
4 Incredibles 2 (2018) – $1,242,805,359
5 Minions (2015) -$1,159,398,397
6 Toy Story 4 (2019) – $1,073,394,593
7 Toy Story 3 (2010) -$1,066,970,811
8 Despicable Me 3 (2017) – $1,034,799,409
9 Finding Dory (2016) – $1,028,570,889
10 Zootopia (2016) -$1,025,521,689
The movie Super Mario Bros it currently sits at $1,022,473,825 worldwide and is still playing in theaters, meaning it will no doubt climb the charts in the coming weeks. That being said, Marvel’s release Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 kicks off the summer movie calendar and is expected to move Mario to the sidelines.
Still, it’s an impressive feat for a soulless corporate cash grab with little plot to speak of and some low voice effort from the likes of Chris Pratt, Anya Taylor-Joy and Seth Rogen.
Universal thought they had a hands-on franchise that couldn’t fail, and they’ve been proven right. Expect a sequel announcement any day now. Jack Black, who voices the villainous Bowser (and is one of the only redeeming things about the film), has also expressed interest in having the ubiquitous Pedro Pascal (who had previously played Mario in a Saturday Night Live sketch) voicing the character Wario, who could serve as the sequel’s main villain.
Nintendo has already stated that there would be more films based on their properties – even if they have yet to confirm the inevitable sequel The movie Super Mario Bros – so you can also expect Donkey Kong to be in the works sometime soon.
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